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Two garnet crystals and one staurolite mineral block obtained from a metapelitic schist, and another garnet mineral block from an amphibolite at the Cordillera Darwin metamorphic complex, Chile, South America, are microanalyzed to determine the oxygen isotope ratio. The complex garnet-biotite-staurolite-plagioclase-muscovite-quartz-ilmenite chlorite constitutes the crystals. The experimental investigation was performed at pressure-temperature conditions of 575 degrees Celsius and 7 kilobars. Laser extraction systems were used for the collection of oxygen isotopes. The core of the minerals had 3.5% more O-18 than the surfaces.

The ability to constrain the petrogenesis of multiple serpentine generations recorded at the microscale is crucial for estimating the extent and conditions of modern versus fossil serpentinisation in ophiolites. To address matrix bias effects during oxygen isotope analysis by SIMS, we present the first investigation analysing antigorite in the compositional range Mg# = 77.5–99.5 mole %, using a CAMECA IMS‐1280 secondary ion mass spectrometer. Spot‐to‐spot homogeneity is ≤ 0.5‰ (2s) for the new antigorite reference materials. The relative bias between antigorite reference materials with different Mg/Fe ratios is described by a second‐order polynomial, and a maximum difference in bias of ~ 1.8‰ was measured for Mg# ~ 78 to 100. We observed a bias up to ~ 1.0‰ between lizardite and antigorite attributed to their different crystal structures. Orientation effects up to ~ 1‰ were observed in chrysotile. The new analytical protocol allowed the identification of oxygen isotope zoning up to ~ 7‰ in serpentine minerals from two serpentinites recovered from an area of active serpentinisation in the Samail ophiolite. Thus, in situ analysis is capable of resolving isotopic heterogeneity that may directly reflect changes in the physical and chemical conditions of multiple serpentinisation events in the Samail ophiolite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corundum (Crn), including sapphire, occurs in emery pods surrounded by marble on the island of Naxos, Greece. The emery formed from bauxite deposited in karst that was metamorphosed to 400–700°C at 20–15 Ma. Many of these rocks initially appeared well suited for refractory accessory mineral (RAM) thermometry, which uses oxygen isotope fractionation between a RAM – corundum – and a modally dominant phase with faster diffusion of oxygen – calcite (Cc) – to determine peak metamorphic temperatures. However, previous attempts at oxygen isotope thermometry were confounded by highly variable fractionations (Δ18O) measured at mm‐scale and the uncertain calibration of Δ18O(Cc‐Crn) versus temperature. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) permits in situ analysis of δ18O in corundum and calcite at the 10‐μm scale in adjacent grains where textures suggest peak metamorphic equilibrium was attained. SIMS analyses of adjacent mineral pairs in eight rocks yield values of Δ(Cc‐Crn) that systematically decrease from 7.2 to 2.9‰ at higher metamorphic grade. Pairing these data with independent temperature estimates from mineral isograds yields an empirical calibration of 1,000 lnα(Cc‐Crn) = 2.72 ± 0.3 × 106/T2 (T in K). The new fractionations (2.7‰ at 1,000 K) are significantly smaller than those calculated from the modified increment method (6.5‰ at 1,000 K; Zheng, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 1991, 55:2299–2307; Zheng, Mineral Mag, 1994, 58A:1000–1001), which yield unreasonably high temperatures of 630 to 1,140°C when applied to the new Naxos data. The new calibration of Δ(Cc‐Crn) can be combined with published fractionations to calculate A‐factors for corundum versus a range of 14 other minerals. These new fractionation factors can be used for thermometry or to constrain the genesis of corundum. A compilation of gem corundum δ18O values shows that many igneous sapphires, including important deposits of basalt‐associated sapphire, are mildly elevated in δ18O relative to the calculated range in equilibrium with mantle values (4.4–5.7‰) and formed from evolved magmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cover image is based on the Research Article Comparison of δ13C analyses of individual foraminifer (Orbulina universa) shells by secondary ion mass spectrometry and gas source mass spectrometry by Jody B. Wycech et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.9658..By Jody B. Wycech; Daniel Clay Kelly; Reinhard Kozdon; Akizumi Ishida; Kouki Kitajima; Howard J. Spero and John W. ValleyReported by Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author; Author [Extracted from the article]

Detailed SHRIMP U-Pb and CAMECA 1280 oxygen isotope analyses is conducted on a suite of 30 zircons with preliminary ages >3.7 Ga. Results of SHRIMP U-Pb dating reveals the ages range from 3860 to 3135 Ma.